Organic asparagus grower Bothen Hill was one of the big winners at this wek's Best of Organic Market (BOOM) Awards.
The Soil Association-run awards were revealed at a ceremony at London's Oval Space this week.
Bothen Hill collected the award for Best of Organic Fresh Produce, while Riverford Organic Farmers got the nod in the box scheme category.
The coveted Best Organic Farmer award was jointly won by Jo and Tim Budden from Higher Hacknell Farm, Devon, who run a 350-acre mixed organic farm that includes cattle, sheep, crops, poultry and a cider orchard.
They edged out a number of fresh produce growers for the top individual award, including RB Organics' Joe Rolfe and Anneville Farm's Justin Le Gresley, as well as Martyn Bragg from Shillingford Organics and Riverford founder Guy Singh-Watson.
Explaining the judges' decision, Liz Bowles, associate director of farming at the Soil Association, said:“We awarded Jo and Tim at Higher Hacknell for their longstanding dedication to mixed organic farming, their commitment to excellent animal welfare, fantastic environmental standards and production of consistently great-tasting food.
'Jo and Tim are traditional family farmers, farming in harmony with nature and using native breeds. Their impressive organic home delivery website and innovative approach to meat marketing through on-farm processing and direct sales also helped to raise them above the other fantastic nominees and finalists in this category, and they are deserving winners of 2019’s Best Organic Farmer award.”
Elsewhere the best new organic product was Pip Organic's Rainbow Fruity Lollies with Cheeky Veg, Ocado was best online retailer and Sainsbury's was best supermarket.
In the sub-categories, Bothen Hill's asparagus helped it to the Vegetables award, while The Tomato Stall's Isle of Wight Organic Heritage Tomato Selection won in the salad section.
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